So long, And Thanks For All The Memories
by DopeyPixie
Summary: 'Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again.' William Shakespeare
1. Owner Of A Lonely Heart

''Saying goodbye doesn't mean anything. It's the time we spent together that matters, not how we left it.'' Trey Parker

* * *

As Aaron looked at himself in the mirror and took of his tie, all he could think about was her: Emily Prentiss. The woman who had been on his mind for the past 5 years, and now she had left.

He didn't know when he was going to see her again, if he was even going to see her again, which he seriously doubted. She was going to go live in London, and he had his life in Virginia. There weren't exactly any reasons to see each other again, aside from the fact that he loved her.

Aside from the fact that he wanted to spend every moment he was awake with her, he already had her in his dreams. Every time he closed his eyes he saw her smiling face in front of him, those sparkling eyes he would never forget...

'Why did you have to leave', he thought to himself as he thought of her. He felt as if his heart was completely broken into little pieces that had been thrown on the floor, stomped on and then set on fire. Why did it have to hurt so badly? The only time he had ever felt this kind of heartbreak was when Hailey had been murdered.

_He could see there was something she wasn't telling him. ''Emily?'' He asked with a frown as he stood in front of her, trying to get her attention. ''Yeah,'' she asked, snapping out of her thoughts. ''What's wrong?'' He asked as he put his hand on her arm in a comforting gesture._

_''Nothing,'' she said quickly, avoiding eye-contact. He knew she was lying, as a trained profiler it wasn't difficult to know what gave it away. He also knew that if she didn't want to talk about it, it would be best to give her some space until she was ready._

_He gave her a slight nod and turned on his heel before he walked to the glass doors._  
_''Wait!'' He heard her voice behind him._  
_He turned back to her, ''yes?'' He asked as he took a step towards her._

_Emily paused for a moment as she took a step in his direction as well, trying to come up with the best way to break the news to him. She took a deep moment and decided to just go for it, ''I'm moving to London.'' She said._  
_She saw the expression on his face turn to slight shock, ''what?'' He asked her as he took another few steps towards her until he was just barely a foot in front of her._

_''I got offered to run the Interpol's London office, and I said yes,'' she said, slightly smiling. She waited for him to respond, but he didn't say anything. ''Hotch?''_

_He seemed to snap out of his daze and looked a little confused, ''sorry,'' he said, shaking his head just slightly. ''When are you leaving?'' ''In a few days,'' she answered._

_Hotch looked down at the glass in his hand, not sure how to respond to the news. ''You're the first one I'm telling, I wasn't quite sure how to...'' she said before pausing because she didn't know how describe her feelings._

_They had dated on and off for about three months a couple of months ago, that didn't mean she didn't still love him. In fact: she wanted to be with him, but she knew she wouldn't be able to make it work. She was too used to being independant, she had taken care of herself too long not to be. And aside from that she was worried about Jack._

_She knew it was too confusing for Hotch' young son to find out they had broken up yet again, only to find out a little while later that they were back together again. She had to think about him as well._

_''Where does this leave us?'' Hotch asked her. He had to know the answer in order to enable him to move on._  
_''I don't know. I mean: I love you and I always will but it's obvious we can't make it work. We could try long distance, but...'' she started._

_Hotch grinned, ''...that would be a disaster,'' he finished._  
_''Exactly,'' Emily said, smiling as well._

Hotch looked into the mirror, wondering if she was thinking about him too, ''I still love, that'll never change,'' he said.  
''Who're you talking to daddy?'' He heard Jacks voice behind him and he turned around.

''Nobody son,'' he said, taking one last glance at himself before turning back to his son who had sat down on the bed.  
''Is it about Aunt Emily?'' Jack asked.

Hotch nodded, ''yes it is,'' he said.  
''Are you two back together?'' Jack asked. The happy sound in his voice stung Hotch' heart.  
''No,'' he said a little curtly.

''Do you love her?'' Jack asked. ''Very much. I'd do anything for her on any day, but we can't make it work,'' Hotch said, even as he was talking he wasn't sure if he should be telling Jack about this.

They sat in silence for a moment, ''Jack?'' Hotch asked, when his son looked at him he continued: ''Aunt Emily has decided to move to London.''

* * *

Emily Prentiss was driving through the rain to the airport, thinking about him again. All the memories flooded back to her. She wanted to move to London, she wanted to work for Interpol, but the thought of leaving Hotch behind was something she couldn't bear thinking about.

She loved him too much... She was sure that was what it was. She had never loved a man that much and being with him scared her. Scared because she knew she could lose him, considering his job. Scared because she could hurt him, scared because of a million reasons. She wasn't one to run away because she was scared, now she just had to convince herself that that wasn't what she was doing.

She stopped at a red light and leaned her hand on the steering wheel for a moment, trying to straighten out her thoughts. She wanted to convince herself that she didn't love him, it would make it so much easier to leave if that had been the case.

She let out a sigh, trying to think back to happier times.

_They were lying on his bed. Both had just woken up and were still a little bit sleepy. Emily could feel Aaron softly stroke her hair and she turned her head to look at him._  
_''Good morning, beautiful,'' he said and smiled at her._

_''Good morning to you too handsome,'' she said as she moved a little closer to him. She laid her head on his chest and listened to the rhythmic beating of his heart. It was such a calming sound, letting her know that he was alive and well and that she was save. ''Did you sleep well?'' He asked her as he kissed the top of her head._

_She nodded, ''very well. I always sleep well when I'm with you. I dreamt that we were on vacation; we were on the beach... It was very nice,'' she said, smiling at the thought. ''You?''_  
_''Me too, thought I don't remember what I dreamt,'' Aaron replied, biting his lip as he tried to remember what he had dreamt._

_She took a deep breath and as she exhaled she looked up at his face. She buried her head a little deeper into his chest, ''I love you,'' she said with a smile, glad she could finally tell him how she felt._  
_''I love you too,'' he said after a few seconds, glad as well._

_Emily threw him a sultry look as she rolled on top of him, ''I love you very, very much,'' she whispered to him as she leaned down to kiss his lips._

Emily shook her head, trying to shake the thought as the light turned green. She let out a sigh thinking about how wonderful that day had been. Jack had been visiting his aunt Jessica and she and Aaron had spent the entire day together. They had gone to the park, gone out for dinner. It had been one of their best days together...

'Why am I leaving?' She asked herself as she kept her focus on the road. 'Why can't I make it work with Hotch?' She rubbed her forehead and waited for the car in front of her to speed up.

Maybe they were just too different... And maybe she just wasn't ready for a relationship...

But somewhere deep inside she had a feeling that they would end up together, as if they were meant for each other and now just wasn't the time yet to be together. But Emily knew that time would come someday and they would be able to make it work then.

''Now I just have to figure out when that is...'' she told herself with a sigh.

* * *

''Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?'' Richard Bach

* * *

Please review! Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!


	2. Wishing 'N' Hoping

So, just like always I'm so, so sorry it took me so long to update. Also, I know Emily, and Hotch probably too, will be completely out of character in this chapter - which, just by the way, is the second and last chapter of this story. This story wasn't really supposed to have a second chapter so this is more to wrap things up than anything else.  
Enjoy!

* * *

''My thoughts will echo your name until I see you again.'' Taylor Swift

* * *

'When will the time be right to make it work with him? When will the time be right for me to get my life together and show him how much I love him so we can have our own happy ending?'

Emily sighed as she parked on the side of the road, there was so much rain pouring down from the clouds that she couldn't see the road anymore. Even if she wanted to continue her journey to the airport, she couldn't. And she wasn't even sure if she wanted to... She rubbed her temples slowly, trying to make the upcoming headache go away.

Emily knew she and Aaron were going to end up together, she knew that one way or another they were going to make it work at some moment in their future. But when would that be? She couldn't help but feel that they could make it work now, that she could have her happily ever after now.

She closed her eyes for a few minutes, trying to straighten out her thoughts. When she finally looked back up she could see all the dark clouds, it was going to be raining for a while. She glanced down at the radio, and without really thinking about she pressed the on/off button. A familiar song started playing, somewhere she recognized it but she couldn't quite remember what it was called or who sung it.

_''...I remember till I cry _  
_But the one thing I wish I'd forget _  
_A memory I want to forget''_

Emily frowned at the lyrics. It sure sounded like a love song, but slightly different from your usual sweet little song. Emily knew she could've expected a song like this to start playing now, considering how many there were and considering that she was going through this it was just bound to happen sooner or later.

_''Suddenly my cell phone's glowing up _  
_With your ring tone _  
_I hesitate but answer it anyway _  
_You sound so alone _  
_And I'm surprised to hear you say''_

Emily got her cell phone out of the pocket of her jacket and waited for it to start ringing. Considering all of the irony of the night, with the song and a bunch of other things, her cell phone was probably going to start ringing soon, and it was going to be Aaron. And then he was going to tell her that he loves her and that he misses her. Just any second now...

Emily groaned in frustration and threw the cell phone down on the passenger seat when it didn't started ringing. ''Why can't you just call me?'' She asked him, even though he obviously couldn't hear her. She could feel a tear roll down her cheek and immediately wiped it away. ''I'm not going to cry over this again,'' she repeated to herself a couple of times. She had cried over him enough times and she was done. Barely realizing it; she held her breath when the last verse began:

_''Remember when we kissed _  
_You still feel it on our lips _  
_The time that you danced with me _  
_With the no music playing _  
_You remember those simple things _  
_We talked till we cried _  
_You said that your biggest regret _  
_The one thing you wish I'd forget _  
_Is saying goodbye _  
_Saying goodbye _  
_Goodbye''_

The biggest regret, the one thing she wished would've never happened, but since it did she just wanted to forget it, was saying goodbye. The moment she had decided to leave for the very last time, the moment she had pushed him away just because things were tough at that moment... She just wanted to forget all of that had ever happened.

As she looked up, out of the cardoor window, she saw that it wasn't raining as heavily anymore. She quickly turned her car, heading back into town. She had made up her mind; she finally knew what she was going to do.

* * *

Hotch had just put Jack to bed when he heard the doorbell ring, over and over again. He quickly rushed downstairs; worried somebody might be in trouble and needed help. He took a short glance through the little peephole and opened the door as fast as he could when he saw it was her. ''Emily!'' Was the first thing he said when he saw her standing there, soaking wet.

In the less than twenty meters it took to get from her car to the front door she had gotten completely soaked by the amount of rain that was rapidly pouring down from the pitch black sky. She quickly ran her hand through her wet hair.

''Sorry.'' Was the first thing she said, her head tilted to the side.

He opened the door a little further, inviting her in, and closed the door behind her. ''Do you want a towel or something?'' He asked as he took a step towards the kitchen.  
''No thanks,'' she said as she took of her coat.  
''Aren't you supposed to be on a plane?'' He asked her as he sat down on the couch. Emily threw a quick glance at it; her jeans were wet as well... ''It's okay, just sit down.''

She gave a short nod before sitting down next to him. ''I was on my way there, I couldn't...'' she didn't know how to explain this to him. She had thought of everything she had wanted to say, even how she was going to say it, but the moment she saw him it was all gone. ''The rain and all...''  
''Well, it'll probably clear up soon, you can just book a new flight I guess, and then-'' Hotch began.

''No!'' Emily interrupted him.  
Hotch threw her a confused look. ''Beg your pardon?''  
''I don't want to leave. On my way to the airport I was thinking about... us, I guess. I know that if we both try, we can make it work. Together we can make this happen, we can have our happy ending together,'' she said.

''You know how awful we are together, just a few months ago you witnessed it, you felt it. How can you be so sure it'll work this time?'' Aaron asked.  
''I just know it...'' Emily said it, pausing for a moment.

''I was driving away from you, away from us and all that we could've been. And I realized that it was the last thing I wanted. I thought about waking up in the morning and the first thing I'll be hearing every morning would be your voice, the first eyes I'll look into every day would be yours. I not only realized that that was the thing I wanted most, but I realized it was the one thing I was getting away from.

Every time I see you I'm overwhelmed by how much I love you, by how much I miss you when you're not there, and how much I need you during rough times. I've tried to live without you over and over but when you're not there I'm not complete, I'm just one big, bloody mess that wishes you where there. With everything I do I try to imagine you're doing the same thing just to feel closer to you.

Those moments make me realize that I never want to lose you. And if I could have any guy on this planet I would choose you. I love you more now than I ever have before, no one can ever take your place. Every single moment of every single day all I want is to hear you say that you feel the same way... And that's why I'm here now. I'll go if you want me to, but if you ask me to stay, I'll stay...'' Emily finished, breathing heavily.

Aaron didn't realize it but his jaw had dropped just a little bit. She gave him a slight, sweet but innocent, 'kind of afraid of what he might say' kind of smile.

''I honestly have no idea what to say now...'' he simply said. She was about to say something when he interrupted her: ''what about all those things you mentioned for us to broke up. The thing with us always breaking up and how that might affect Jack?''

''It's simple: we both admit that we make mistakes and when we have to we admit that we messed up or that we're wrong. I'm ready to grow up and give this - us - all I have. If we can both do that we can make it work and as for Jack: we can just wait a little while to tell him, just until we know that we can do this. And as for him not to get hurt I guess we just won't ever break up,'' Emily said.

''Not ever break up?'' Hotch gave a slight smile, ''that sounds nice...''

* * *

''If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place.'' Unknown Author

* * *

So, that was the last chapter. I hope y'all enjoyed it! Please review!


End file.
